Leclerc takes back-to-back poles at home, Ferrari record their sixth front row lock-out in Monaco and Vettel reaches Q3 for the 13th Monaco race in a row. Here are the facts and statistics from qualifying at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix.
LECLERC TAKES BACK-TO-BACK MONACO POLES
For the second year in a row, Charles Leclerc secured pole position for his home Grand Prix. He became the eleventh driver to take pole at the Monaco Grand Prix in successive seasons.
This was Ferrari’s 12th pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix, setting a new outright record of most poles at the event. They were previously tied for most Monaco poles with McLaren.
Leclerc took the 14th pole position of his career, equalling the career tally of Alberto Ascari, James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson, Rubens Barrichello and Max Verstappen. With Leclerc equalling Ascari’s pole tally, Michael Schumacher, Niki Lauda and Felipe Massa are now the only drivers to have taken more pole positions with Ferrari.
THE TOP 10
Carlos Sainz qualified in second place, recording his first front row start at the Monaco Grand Prix.
With Leclerc on pole and Sainz second, Ferrari recorded their sixth front row lock-out at the Monaco Grand Prix. They last locked-out the front row in Monaco in 2017.
Despite crashing at the end of Q3, Sergio Perez out-qualified Max Verstappen for the second time this season. Perez recorded his best qualifying result in Monaco to date with third place. His previous best was seventh, recorded in 2013, 2015 and 2017.
Qualifying in fourth place, Max Verstappen maintained his record of qualifying in the top four in every qualifying session he has competed in since the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix.
This is the first time since 2014 that both Red Bull drivers have qualified in the top four at the Monaco Grand Prix.
With fifth place, Lando Norris equalled his best Monaco Grand Prix qualifying result. Norris remains the only McLaren driver to qualify in the top five at the Monaco Grand Prix since 2013.
George Russell reached Q3 at the Monaco Grand Prix for the first time.
Sebastian Vettel reached Q3 at the Monaco Grand Prix for a thirteenth consecutive appearance at the track. With ninth place, he equalled his best qualifying result of the season so far.
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton extended their shared record of most Q3 appearances at the Monaco Grand Prix to 13.
For the first time since 2011, no Mercedes drivers qualified in the top three at the Monaco Grand Prix. It’s the first time in their history that no Mercedes drivers have qualified in the top five in Monaco.
With Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly out in Q1, Carlos Sainz is now the only current driver with a 100% Q3 appearance record at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon reached Q3. This was the first time since 2012 that both of the Enstone-based team’s drivers have reached Q3 at the Monaco Grand Prix.
OUT IN Q2
Qualifying in 12th place, Valtteri Bottas failed to reach Q3 for only the second time in the last 108 races. It has now been over seven years since Bottas’ last Q1 exit, which occurred at the 2015 Monaco Grand Prix. This was the first time Bottas failed to reach Q3 in Monaco since 2016.
With Yuki Tsunoda out in Q2 and Pierre Gasly eliminated in Q1, this was the first time that neither of the Red Bull junior team’s cars reached Q3 at the Monaco Grand Prix since 2012.
Both Haas cars were eliminated in Q2. Kevin Magnussen recorded his first Q2 exit since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo was out in Q2. This is the fourth Monaco Grand Prix in a row at which one McLaren driver has been eliminated in Q2 while the other has reached Q3.
OUT IN Q1
Pierre Gasly qualified only 17th for the Monaco Grand Prix. This was the first time he failed to reach Q3 at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Gasly recorded his worst qualifying position since his Red Bull debut at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, where he also qualified 17th.
Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1 for the fourth time in his five Monaco Grand Prix appearances. It was also the fourth time he has qualified 18th at the circuit.
Zhou Guanyu recorded Alfa Romeo’s second Q2 exit of the season and the first back row qualification of his career. It’s the first time since 2018 that the team has seen a car eliminated in Q1 at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Both Williams drivers were eliminated in Q1. It’s the second time the team has recorded a double Q1 exit at the Monaco Grand Prix. They also did so in 2019.